Endoscopic surgical procedures are now becoming increasingly popular due to the greatly reduced patient recovery times resulting from such surgery.
More particularly, in endoscopic surgical procedures, relatively narrow surgical instruments are inserted into the interior of the patient's body so that the distal (i.e., working) ends of the instruments are positioned at a remote interior surgical site, while the proximal (i.e., handle) ends of the instruments remain outside the patient's body. The physician then manipulates the proximal (i.e., handle) ends of the instruments as required so as to cause the distal (i.e., working) ends of the instruments to carry out the desired surgical procedure at the remote interior surgical site. As a result of this technique, the incisions made in the patient's body can remain relatively small, thereby resulting in significantly faster patient recovery times.
By way of example, laparoscopic surgical procedures have been developed wherein the abdominal region of the patient is inflated with gas (e.g., CO2) and then surgical instruments are inserted into the interior of the abdominal cavity so as to carry out the desired surgical procedure. By way of further example, arthroscopic surgical procedures have been developed wherein a knee joint is inflated with a fluid (e.g., a saline solution) and then surgical instruments are inserted into the interior of the joint so as to carry out the desired surgical procedure.
In order to visualize what is taking place at the remote interior site, the physician also inserts an endoscope into the patient's body during the endoscopic surgery, together with an appropriate source of illumination. Such an endoscope generally comprises an elongated shaft having a distal end and a proximal end, and at least one internal passageway extending between the distal end and the proximal end. Image capturing means are disposed at the distal end of the shaft and extend through the shaft's at least one internal passageway, whereby the image capturing means can capture an image of a selected region located substantially adjacent to the distal end of the shaft and convey that image to the proximal end of the shaft. Viewing means are in turn disposed adjacent to the proximal end of the shaft, whereby the image obtained by the image capturing means can be conveyed to a display device which is viewed by the physician.
Endoscopes of the sort described above are generally sufficient to permit the physician to carry out the desired endoscopic procedure. However, certain problems have been encountered when using such endoscopes in surgical procedures.
For example, endoscopes of the sort described above generally have a fairly limited field of view. As a result, the physician typically cannot view the entire surgical field in a single image. This can mean that the physician may not see an important development as soon as it occurs, and/or that the physician must expend precious time and energy constantly redirecting the endoscope to different anatomical regions.
Visualization problems can also occur due to the difficulty of providing proper illumination within a remote interior site.
Also, visualization problems can occur due to the presence of intervening structures (e.g., fixed anatomical structures, moving debris, flowing blood, the presence of vaporized tissue when cauterizing in laparoscopic surgery, the presence of air bubbles in a liquid medium in the case of arthroscopic surgery, etc.).
It has also been found that it can be very difficult for the physician to navigate the endoscope about the anatomical structures of interest, due to the relative ambiguity of various anatomical structures when seen through the endoscope's aforementioned limited field of view and due to the aforementioned visualization problems.